Orange: A Guide to all Legendary Weapons

With the buzz about the teaser information for Fangs of the Father, it's a good time to go back and look at the other legendaries Blizzard has implemented across expansions. Many of these weapons have similarly striking questlines and unique models--even if you can't transmogrify them, they're worth collecting. Whether you're trying to farm one of these for the looks or lore, or were the first person in your guild to receive one during progression, legendaries have a special place in everyone's heart.

We've also gone through the database to highlight removed, silly, and temporary legendaries for your amusement, as they've got some funny stories behind them too!

Equippable Legendaries

This staff is a must-have for any caster in Firelands--plus it turns you into a dragon (Visage de Tarecgosa)! Wowhead moderator Gnub has provided an in-depth guide to acquiring this weapon, but we'll give you a few of the highlights here. Players will go between completing solo quests to help the Blue Dragonflight and relying upon a raid to collect items from bosses.

Stage 1: Casters complete a solo RP sequence and fight in a phased version of The Nexus. Afterwards, they are required to create charged focus from the early Firelands bosses, which unlocks the Anvil of Conflagration. A raid is required to take down this boss, and the caster is rewarded with Branche de Nordrassil and a special temporary title.

Wrath of Tarecgosa - The Legendary ProcFrom Gnub's guide:Like any other legendary item, Dragonwrath has a very nifty proc, that truly makes it interesting: Colère de Tarecgosa. The wording indicates an effect much like the Mastery of ElementalChaman: . According to the wording, it seems that the duplicated spell deals full damage. The duplicated spell will show in combat-logs as the same as was cast, making it almost impossible to track completely.

The good news doesn't end there, though. There's also a side-effect to account for, which is mostly relevant to Damage over Time classes, such as such as AfflictionDémoniste or ShadowPrêtre. DoTs can also be duplicated, but these will show up as the spell Colère de Tarecgosa, which will deal damage identical to a given tick.

Fangs of the Father

This weapon set is the new Rogue-only legendary slated for 4.3. These weapons will let rogues fly--there will be a stacking increase to Agility that eventually creates wings that can be used for a DPS boost, as well as a slowfall cosmetic one. Check out Blizzard's official preview for more details, as well as our in-depth guide in 4.3. It's a nice change compared to being at the mercy of the RNG gods for a Glaive de guerre d'Azzinoth back in The Burning Crusade, but one wonders if acquiring this new legendary will just be viewed as a class perk and mandatory item for "balance," instead of something truly rare.

For background: check out the quest series in Badlands covering Rheastrasza, the ambitious red dragon who acquired a black dragon egg and magically purified it, cleansing it of the Black Dragonflight’s corruption. This questline covers the fate of the purified egg and introduces the enigmatic Black Prince, Wrathion--in a storyline taking the enterprising rogue to Dragon Soul, Karazhan, Ravenholdt Manor, and much more in the process.

While completing the entire quest series does require a raid, there's a ton of great solo content at the start, such as exciting high-stakes stealth missions.

This two-handed axe was introduced in Citadelle de la Couronne de glace, available to Warriors, Death Knights, and Paladins. It is relatively easy to farm with a group at 85 that even just farms normal-mode bosses.

The next part is three-pronged, requiring players to kill the bosses of each wing in a special way: Infusion d'impie, Infusion de sang, and Infusion de givre. This took some coordination at level 80--driving an Abomination correctly, using the proper damage-reductions when eating Sindragosa's breaths, etc.

Le trône brisé: Players must loot 50 Eclat givre-ombre from bosses in Icecrown Citadel. This must be in 25-player mode, but can be from both normal and heroic versions of the encounters.

A rare drop from Kil'jaeden, the last boss in Plateau du Puits de soleil, this bow was the only ranged weapon not to require ammunition (before it was completely removed in Cataclysm). Instead, using the bow created a striking neon-blue shooting animation When it was first introduced, there was some debate if such a bow, without epic ammunition, could scale well compared to the top end of epic weapons like Arc doré de Quel'Thalas--in addition to the uproar over some guilds giving this bow to rogues first as a glorified stat stick.

There was also debate over the lore origins of this weapon. Some believe that it's the bow of Alleria Windrunner due to the High Elven style. Others believe that Halduron Luisaile is now the rightful wielder of the bow, as he's the only NPC in Azeroth to use a bow with that model. Still others think it's related to the inherent energy of the Sunwell or a forgotten hero--much in the same way Livre des hymnes des Bien-nés references a time of turmoil between the schism between the Night and High elves.

Thunderfury, Blessed Blade of the Windseeker is the legendary sword once wielded by Thunderaan, Prince of Air. The prince, son of Al'Akir the Windlord, was successfully attacked by Ragnaros the Firelord. However, Thunderaan's power could not be completely taken into his new form. What remained of Thunderaan was placed in a talisman of elemental binding, which was broken into two pieces. The pieces were then given to the Firelord's two lieutenants, Baron Geddon and Garr, respectively the left and right halves. These two halves are known as the .

When this weapon was first implemented, nobody was quite sure what it actually did--or how good it was. Many paladins and hunters picked up the bindings first, before people knew how good it was for both tank threat and melee dps.

This mace was coveted by all healers in Wrath of the Lich King, especially paladins, for whom it still remained BiS even in Icecrown Citadel. It was unique for Bénédiction des anciens rois, which provided the target with a shield that absorbs damage equal to 15% of the amount healed for 15 sec.

Players learn about the lore behind the mace by completing quests for the Archivum Console in Ulduar.

Archivum System says: Created by the titans themselves, Val'anyr was given to the first Earthen king, Urel Stoneheart. With the hammer he was to create and give life to the rest of his brethren.

Archivum System says: Val'anyr was shattered during the first war between the Earthen and the Iron Dwarves.

Archivum System says: The Weapon's remnants were believed lost in the conflict.

Archivum System says: Probability of successful repair by ordinary means available in this world is close to nil.

Archivum System says: Please hold while theoretical means are analyzed.

Archivum System says: Powerful acidic content theoretically found inside the being Yogg-Saron would count for the liquefaction of Saronite. Submersion in this substance might be sufficient to rebind an alloy of titan origin.

These visually-striking weapons are my favorite legendary set, but I wish they had a better method of acquisition. They drop from Illidan Hurlorage, the final boss in Black Temple--no lore, no special questing--and are available to Warriors, Rogues, and Death Knights. This instance is easy to clear with some friends at 85, although you will need a an interrupter for the Illidari Council and Reliquary of Souls. Pick up Vision maudite de Sargeras from Illidan as well to complete the look.

In Tier 6 and Sunwell, these weapons completely changed a rogue's performance. The first legendary to be an actual set, the bonuses from the two blades effectively provided players with free Potion de hâte and Elixir de tueur de démon. It was possible still for an extremely good player without these weapons to beat one with these legendaries, but between the amazing bonuses and weapon speed itemization, it was tough. And as Sunwell featured many bosses classified as demons that were DPS checks, it was near-mandatory to go back to Black Temple every week and hope the RNG gods provided melee with a complete set.

As for background, these weapons were wielded by Illidan himself, after he slew the doom guard commander Azzinoth. He trained himself to use these distinctly-curved blades; many demon hunters followed in his footsteps by using similarly-shaped weapons which emphasized a user's dexterity and agility. In-game, fighting in combat with these weapons looks quite striking as they have unique animations.

Atiesh, Greatstaff of the Guardian

The legendary staff wielded by each Guardian of Tirisfal, Atiesh was the first caster legendary, having slightly different itemization for Mages, Warlocks, Priests, and Druids. (Each version of the staff also has a different colored ribbon, to note class differences.) It also notably buffed party members--for example, Pouvoir du Gardien. As for vanity effects, it summons a flock of ravens around the caster's head and can be used to open a portal to Karazhan. While the weapon is no longer obtainable, owners receive Atiesh, grand bâton du Gardien--and it's a fun quest series to highlight.

The final part of the quest chain required players to summon Atiesh, a demon in Stratholme, and to defeat him. Atiesh wields , dropping it in the course of the fight. The player can then use this weapon against the demon. Defeating the demon completes Atiesh, le grand bâton du Gardien, allowing the caster to obtain the legendary.

Misc. Legendaries

These legendaries are either unobtainable or temporary, but they all have interesting stories behind them that reveal fun parts of WoW's history.

Ashbringer is one of the most coveted items in the game, due to the epic lore behind it. Older (and extremely lucky) players will have to make do with Porte-Cendres corrompue from Naxx 40 though, which darkens the appearance of your character and makes the members of the Scarlet Crusade friendly. (And for silliness, there's always Poudroyeuse, the extremely epic weapon of Mograine's…landlord.)

Here's the lore from the item's page:The Ashbringer is the sword of former Highlord Mograine of the Scarlet Crusade. The blade was named after Mograine and his uncanny ability to smite the undead to nothing but a flurry of ash. Mograine was betrayed and murdered by his son, Renault, with the sword. Recently it has been discovered that Mograine was reincarnated as a Death Knight by the lich Kel'Thuzad, and he still possesses Ashbringer, although it has been defiled by his murder and transformed into Porte-Cendres corrompue.

Background

After the Silver Hand was dissolved following Arthas' betrayal, the remaining leaders formed the Scarlet Crusade. Mograine was appointed to the head position of Highlord, and Ashbringer became the most lethal weapon in the Crusade's arsenal - so much so that it quickly garnered the attention of Kel'Thuzad.

Balnazzar, in the newly possessed body of Grand Crusader Saiden Dathrohan, sought to use the Crusade as a machine against the Scourge and rectify the Burning Legion's past failure to defeat the Lich King. Mograine, however, potentially jeopardized his plans. Balnazzar made a pact with Kel'Thuzad to eliminate the Highlord: the bane of the Scourge would be destroyed, and Balnazzar's reign would continue unchecked. He corrupted Mograine's son, Renault, and made plans to set a trap for the Highlord. Renault led his father and High Inquisitor Fairbanks to Stratholme, where the legions of the Scourge awaited them. Renault fled and hid while Mograine and Fairbanks fended for themselves. Fairbanks eventually became trapped alive under a pile of corpses. Mograine alone continued to smite thousands of the undead with ease, but was eventually wearied and dropped his blade in fatigue. Renault came out of hiding to exploit his father's vulnerable state. He took up Ashbringer and slew his father, which simultaneously corrupted the blade by using it for such a treacherous act.

Unable to wield the corrupted sword, he left it with his father's body, and reported to the Crusade that it had been lost.

Renault's betrayal was witnessed only by the unseen Fairbanks, who could only listen in horror as Renault murdered his father. Fairbanks remained there until he regained enough strength to leave the besieged city. He fled to the Scarlet Monastery where he told of Renault's actions to anyone who would listen. Those who believed broke away from the Crusade and formed the Argent Dawn. However, many refused to believe him and killed him for speaking such blasphemy and exposure to the Plague. His body was discarded in a secret chamber in the Scarlet Cathedral.

This legendary mount was a reward for completing the now-removed questline associated with Vétéran des Sables changeants--but only within the first 10 hours of ringing the AQ gong (Faites résonner le gong !). The last part of this epic questline could only be completed after the entire server joined together to donate items to the war effort and open the gates. As part of this quest chain, players had to rely upon raiders and friends to complete challenges such as timed runs of Blackwing Lair, crafting a buoy to lure a deadly shark that required extremely expensive and rare materials, farming green dragons for quest drops, and killing the insane Docteur Dwenfer. It truly exposed players to the lore of Azeroth--many players, even at the end of Wrath, wanted to complete this chain to experience a bit of the magic.

Want to inflate your "Legendaries looted" total on the armory? Well, you can by farming Tempest Keep every week. In phase 2 of fighting Kael’thas Haut-Soleil, numerous legendary weapons spawned which was intensely chaotic as soon afterwards, Kael'Thas would become active along with his four advisers. Players had a short amount of time to kill these weapons, which were then lootable by everyone in the raid. During progression, it was mandatory for players to equip these weapons, as they provided massive buffs (in addition to insane stats for the time) that were essential to beating the latter phases in the encounter. These weapons only last for 15 minutes or upon leaving the instance (zoning out, death, etc).

Masse d'infusion cosmique: Equip: Friendly targets of the caster's heals gain an effect that reduces the damage taken by Fire and Shadow spells by 50% for 30 sec. This was very useful for reducing damage from Telonicus, Capernian, and Kael'thas. Similar model: Bâtonnet du roi-soleil.

Dévastation: Chance on hit: Increases your movement speed by 50%, and your melee attack speed by 20% for 30 sec. Plate dpsers found this weapon useful, especially when quickly moving between different adds to kill, but enhancement shamans were stuck using this weapon as well. Similar model: Décapiteur du gladiateur impitoyable.

Lame d'infini: Chance on hit: Increases magical damage taken by the target by 5%, and dispels Prince Kael'thas' Mind Control when a melee ability lands. Can be applied up to 5 times. Lasts 30 sec. Even though this dagger was extremely slow, this was mandatory for melee to equip, both for the spell damage boost and the ability to remove Kael'thas' Mind Control, which was deadly to the raid if not removed. Similar model: Malchazine

Bâton de désintégration: Use: Places a mental protection field on friendly targets within 30 yards, granting immunity to Stun, Silence, and Disorient effects.This was especially useful in phase 3, when the four advisers would cast these annoying effects and effectively immobilize part of the raid. Similar model: Bâton cœur-de-cristal à impulsions.

Tranchoir dimensionnel: Chance on hit: Increases your movement speed by 50%, and your melee attack speed by 20% for 30 sec. Another good weapon for melee when they needed to switch between targets quickly before Kael'thas began using Mind Control. Similar model: Lame-magus Saignegueule.

"Just holding this fishing pole makes you shiver with excitement. This is possibly the most amazing thing you've ever seen"--found in the 4.1 data, this elite fishing pole clearly never made it to live. Some players find fishing one of the most boring professions to level, so this item would take care of all of their leveling concerns! (It's also got pretty sick weapon damage for a fishing pole.)

Datamined from the 2.3 PTR back in The Burning Crusade, Peep's Whistle summons Monture Piou-piou le Phénix, a prototype of the popular Cendres d'Al'ar. Peep's Whistle, perhaps named after the popular pastel Easter treats of the same basic shape, is a flaming phoenix with gold and pink tints. It never made it to live, but you can try to farm up the Ashes once each week with a handful of friends at 85 from Tempest Keep.

This legendary, complete with a cool static lightning effect, was never intended to make it to live, but Noktyn from Nurfed looted one back in the early days of Molten Core (and pointed it out here on Wowhead in one of the most highly-ranked comments of all time). Before Blizzard split up Tier 1 and Tier 2 in preparation for Blackwing Lair, this necklace dropped once from Baron Geddon and Blizzard kindly allowed it to remain, while stating it was an error. Speculation is that it was meant to be a temporary legendary in the process of creating Lame-tonnerre, épée bénie du Cherchevent, based on part of Généralissime Demitrian's flavor dialogue: "What little remained of Thunderaan's essence was stored within a talisman of elemental binding. Ragnaros then shattered the talisman in two flawless pieces. The pieces assigned to his Lieutenants…"

The proc allows the Rogue to spam a finisher move for the duration. The duration and technical method for it is unknown, but it appears to work like Deuillelombre, with the damage done by the proc being shifted into finisher damage for those attentive Rogues. ( "These powers include a stacking increase to Agility which builds until dark wings unfurl from the rogue’s back, removing the combo point cost and increasing damage of finishing moves for a short time." - http://eu.battle.net/wow/en/blog/3038919 )

... there will be a stacking increase to Agility that eventually creates wings that can be used for a DPS boost...

I realize I'm sounding nit-picky here, but the wings aren't what gives a DPS boost. So while that's just a minor technical slipup, I want anyone who thinks that that is going to be a DPS boost to realize that the wings aren't. Someone is bound to think that.

The item ID's currently appear to be 77950 and 77949, the only thing you can find on the PTR about them is the icon at the moment. Which looks extremely similar to the final phase of the daggers.

Commentaire de kinark

on 2011-10-17T00:58:14-05:00

I'm pretty close to obtaining my Valnyr after about 2 and a half months of farming. So many horrible memories of yogg x.x we once had 33 guardians spawn... I have the left binding and I'm almost done with shadowmourne on my death knight. I kinda feel legendaries lost their meaning in wrath when they became pretty much guaranteed things but the story line has increased with them.

Commentaire de charriu

on 2011-10-17T01:52:00-05:00

Reading the part about Ashbringer made me remember Tales of the Past (search on Warcraft Movies). Especially part 3 is EPIC.

Commentaire de Feralaz

on 2011-10-17T03:55:16-05:00

Lame-tonnerre, épée bénie du Cherchevent In the past, only certain classes could complete this chain, but it's now been opened up to any class that can equip a sword. Mages and warlocks, time to get farming.

Actually quest chain is opened to everyone (I have completed it on my druid, and my friend got it on priest), though did not receive FoS since I cannot equip it. Same goes for Sulfuras, Main de Ragnaros.

Commentaire de gaberra

on 2012-05-08T08:35:17-05:00

Ashbringer is not available to players, and i don't remember it ever been (tell me if i'm wrong =D )... Such as Crafty's Pole is not available in-game...

Commentaire de Nathanyal

on 2012-05-08T08:37:00-05:00

Ashbringer is not available to players, and i don't remember it ever been (tell me if i'm wrong =D )... Such as Crafty's Pole is not available in-game...

These legendaries are either unobtainable or temporary, but they all have interesting stories behind them that reveal fun parts of WoW's history.

That's what it says above those in the last part.

Commentaire de pdxryguy

on 2012-06-28T00:29:29-05:00

maybe this is the ocd coming out but i got too excited when the Atiesh staff was in the 'equippable' but so obviously said unobtainable in the first paragraph

Commentaire de Rystrave

on 2012-06-28T09:23:09-05:00

I'm still on my Blood Infusion quest after 3 years or whatever. I do 25m ICC weekly and I always tend to get effed when it comes to getting it done. It's a huge bummer, I'd like to get my legendary dangit!